We are a UK registered charity set up to support international parents who have moved abroad and cannot return to live in their home country with their children.

GlobalARRK started in 2012 as a Facebook Page called Expat Stuck Mums, aiming to connect with other parents stuck in foreign countries around the world. Within a year, hundreds of parents had found the group and were desperate for help: they needed information about navigating complex international custody and relocation systems, emotional support and practical advice on how to survive in a foreign country. However there was no help available from other charities or from governments. Soon, stuck parents were offering to volunteer with the group and the organisation grew: it wasn’t just a networking tool anymore, it was also supporting, educating and researching.

Prevention and awareness-raising are our primary aims. We have produced a YouTube video, written articles, appeared on podcasts and worked with the media. Our website offers information and resources for stuck parents as we believe that every family moving abroad should be fully informed.

We have also established stuck parent peer support groups around the world and now have groups in Australia, NZ, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the USA and the UK. We also have a World group and an Apart group for parents without their children. These groups are giving parents the strength to remain with their child for long periods of time whilst a relocation case progresses (this can take up to 5 years).

Statistics are hard to come by, so we have worked hard to collect our own. Our first questionnaire, in 2015, was completed by 200 parents and showed that there were major issues surrounding domestic violence, poverty and hardship faced by stuck parents and their children. It also showed that very few parents were aware of The Hague Convention before moving abroad. Our current questionnaire is even more detailed and has so far received 200 responses in 6 months.

In November 2016 we registered as a UK registered charity. We are still all volunteers, and are dependent on donations for funding. There is currently no other organisation that we are aware of which specifically helps stuck parents or tries to tackle the underlying issues behind ‘parental child abduction’.

Our Team

Kim helps manage the GlobalARRK website, including writing the blog and any other Marketing Communications that the charity needs support with. She discovered GlobalARRK in early 2017 after withdrawing her…...